[MOD POST] We want to hear the community’s thoughts on potentially going dark June 12-13 in solidarity over Reddit’s upcoming API price hike

Hey y’all! Hope everyone’s been enjoying the Finals, the offseason, or whatever else you might have going on in the early days of Summer.

Over the past few days, you’ve possibly seen posts or articles on other subreddits discussing “going dark” (i.e., private) on June 12 & 13 to protest Reddit imposing a price to use the API.

Some relevant reading:

* [Ars Technica](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/06/reddits-plan-to-kill-third-party-apps-sparks-widespread-protests/)

* [Engadget](https://www.engadget.com/reddit-communities-are-going-dark-to-protest-changes-that-would-hurt-third-party-apps-154133342.html)

* [Mashable](https://mashable.com/article/reddit-api-apollo-subreddits-protest)

* [PC Mag](https://www.pcmag.com/news/popular-subreddits-going-dark-to-protest-reddit-charging-for-api-access)

* [Tech Crunch](https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/05/multiple-subreddits-and-moderators-are-now-protesting-reddits-api-changes/)

* [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/7/23752804/reddit-exempt-accessibility-apps-api-pricing-changes) – Reddit is already showing they’ll walk some of this back after it unreasonably affects accessibility

* [r/ModCoord](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/13xh1e7/an_open_letter_on_the_state_of_affairs_regarding/) – an open letter to Reddit still accepting signatures

* [An incomplete list of participating subreddits](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/1401qw5/incomplete_and_growing_list_of_participating/)

If you don’t use a third party app, this probably doesn’t affect you directly, but there are ways it could affect how you enjoy Reddit. At least in this sub, for weeks, the mod team has been trying to figure out how to get our automated bot back up and running (some of y’all may remember ZBot) to clean up some game day confusion. Should we have to pay Reddit to use the API just to get a better functioning AutoMod, the Zbot (and/or ThisBotEatinBEANS) probably stays dead.

Personally, I’m of the opinion the mod team shouldn’t have to pay Reddit in order to improve the effort we spend curating content on their platform for free, but we definitely want to hear from the community before making a decision. Anyone have any strong opinions one way or another? Anyone not care at all?

Of course, should the Finals end after Game 5 on the 12th, there is a chance Ja’s suspension gets announced on the 13th. Should that be the case and we’ve gone dark, the sub won’t be completely inaccessible, but it will be private, meaning new users won’t be able to access or comment. If you’re already here, you’ll still be here.